University Devotionals and Forums

Jim Leach, former chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will deliver the Forum address.

Leach's remarks will be broadcast live on BYUtv, BYUtv.org (and archived for on-demand streaming), KBYU-TV 11, Classical 89 FM, BYU Radio, and will be archived on speeches.byu.edu.

Leach was the ninth Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Nominated by President Barack Obama on July 9, 2009, and confirmed by the Senate in early August, Leach began his four-year term as NEH Chairman on August 12, 2009.

Leach previously served 30 years representing southeastern Iowa in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, and founded and co-chaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus.

After leaving Congress in 2007, Leach joined the faculty at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School, where he was the John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs until his confirmation as NEH chairman. In September 2007, Leach took a year's leave of absence from Princeton to serve as interim director of the Institute of Politics and lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Leach graduated from Princeton University, received a Master of Arts degree in Soviet politics from the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University, and did additional graduate studies at the London School of Economics.

Leach holds eight honorary degrees and has received numerous awards, including the Sidney R. Yates Award for Distinguished Public Service to the Humanities from the National Humanities Alliance; the Woodrow Wilson Award from The Johns Hopkins University; the Adlai Stevenson Award from the United Nations Association; the Edgar Wayburn Award from the Sierra Club; the Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award; the Norman Borlaug Award for Public Service; and the Wesley Award for Service to Humanity.

A three-sport athlete in college, Leach was elected to the Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and the International Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa. Leach resides in Iowa City and the Washington, D.C., area.

Elder Kent F. Richards, member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy, will deliver the devotional address.

If you miss Elder RIchards's remarks, the devotional will be streamed on demand at BYUtv.org and will be available on speeches.byu.edu.

Elder Richards was sustained a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 4, 2009.

Elder Richards graduated with a bachelor of science degree from the University of Utah in 1969. In 1972 he received his medical degree, also from the University of Utah. He has worked as a surgeon for IHC Bryner clinic since 1977 and served as Senior Vice President for four years at Intermountain Health Care. Elder Richards has also served as a clinical professor of surgery at the University of Utah, chairman of the department of surgery at LDS Hospital, and member of the board and executive committee on the IHC board of trustees.

Elder Richards has served in a number of Church callings, including full-time missionary in the Southern Mexican Mission, elders quorum president, bishop, Scoutmaster, high councilor, stake president, and president of the Texas San Antonio Mission.

Elder Richards was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. He married Marsha Gurr in August, 1968. They are the parents of eight children.

Carl Hernandez, BYU professor in the J. Reuban Clark Law School, will deliver the devotional address.

Hernandez's remarks will be streamed live on BYUtv and BYUtv.org (and archived for on-demand streaming), and will be available on speeches.byu.edu.

Hernandez teaches constitutional litigation and professional skills courses at the J. Reuban Clark Law School and has initiated and supervises clinical alliances with the Utah State Legislature, non-profit organizations, community-based organizations and economic development agencies. His interest in government and community development comes from his public service with local legislative bodies and non-profit organizations as well as his as a government lawyer.

Hernandez has experience representing local government agencies on a range of issues including civil rights litigation, land use planning, governmental reorganizations, public contracts and eminent domain litigation and water law. He has also represented clients on immigration issues including E-2 visas, U-visas for immigrants who are victims of crimes and petitions for asylum.

David Pershing, President of University of Utah, will deliver the devotional address.

If you miss Pershing's remarks, the devotional will be streamed on demand at BYUtv.org and will be available on speeches.byu.edu.

David W. Pershing proudly celebrates more than three decades of service to the University of Utah. Named Utah’s 15th President in 2012, President Pershing serves as the university’s chief executive leading a diverse team of faculty and staff at one of the world’s top research universities.

President Pershing joined the University of Utah as an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1977. He was named a Presidential Young Investigator by the National Science Foundation in 1984, became Dean of the College of Engineering in 1987, and named a Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering in 1995. In 1998, Dr. Pershing was named Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs responsible for approximately 1,000 faculty and 25,000 students in the colleges of the main campus. Now as President, Dr. Pershing continues his commitment to the undergraduate experience with new initiatives and programs aimed at enriching academic excellence on campus.

A gifted teacher and prolific researcher, President Pershing is the recipient of the University of Utah’s Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Research Awards and the U’s Rosenblatt Prize for Excellence. He has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed publications, won more than 20 research grants totaling approximately $60 million, and earned five patents. He was named Engineering Educator of the Year by the Utah Engineering Council in 2002 and is a winner of the Governor’s Medal for Science and Technology. He was director of the University of Utah’s Center for Simulation of Accidental Fires and Explosions, fueled by a $40 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

President Pershing holds a bachelor’s degree from Purdue University and a Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, both in chemical engineering.